UNWANTED

CHAPTER 19 - J20.24.29 - LIZAVETA

"My brother is dead." I pressed my heel closer to his pulsing carotid, glancing ever so slightly to the now closed empty tomb.

I made sure he wouldn't choke, but I made sure he knew I could make him. As he struggled a little, feeling my weight now over his torso and hips, my feet to his face, the lights dimmed. His face grew a tad eviler with the darkness he let in.

My eyes still couldn't believe it. There were no wires, no propane, no holograms, and the candles were from the queen.

The Onus were real. Their abilities were real, and this person struggling under me was real. I wanted to kill him, but I needed answers. I needed to find the true emperor of the throne I was keeping warm.

"No..." He raised his eyebrows in a show of innocence, his hands flailing in the air. "He's alive and well and a pain in the ass." In the candlelight I saw his impeccable suit was already torn and his curly hair ruffled over his forehead. Why did he fight me?

The camera. It was still recording. It saw everything - his fire, my skin stitching itself back together. I cursed myself.

I looked back to him.

He could have easily killed me. The Onus could do that, right? "He's dead. He's right there, you disrespectful fascist." I pointed at his empty tomb.

His hands went to his pocket, and I pressed my heel closer to his neck. No way a gun could fit in there, but still. "Here." He opened his palm to me. "He said he kept his corsage from the night he was taken. This is what's left of it." He handed me the wilted, crisp crimson petal. "You can test it, it's probably six years old. Said it was from Monte Carlo, that you had a big garden there behind a church in one of your palaces, and that you liked sneaking out and jumping to the sea from a museum."

I rolled my eyes. "You read the tabloids." Ilyaas and I jumping over a cliff was the headline for a few days now. Me in a car barreling towards trespassing photographers was also a famous photo.

"I saw them, but I don't like reading about you and your hot bodyguard." He rolled his eyes.

Liar. He had to be lying.

"Then what floor do we jump off from? Me and Kaz?"

His brows furrowed, trying to remember... if he had anything to remember. "The first floor." He blurted. "He said your mom found out about you guys and told you there was broken glass on the second."

Broken glass and broken bones. That's what mother said. She knew deep down she wouldn't be able to stop us if we wanted to so her only request was to avoid death.

He wasn't lying. How could he not be lying?

"Then where is he?" I shouldn't have said that. Now he knew I had doubts.

He shrugged. "Long story." He wrapped a soft hand gently around my ankle. "Would appreciate it if I could tell you... over a cup of coffee maybe?" He cocked his head to the side, trying to avoid my shoe. "Or tea. Tea works. I saw a Jasmine Dragon outside-"

I pressed harder, his face turning a bit purple. "You're Onus and you're dumb enough to tell me you're a Raven. You must be heavily optimistic to think I'll let you out alive. You'll kill me if you could."

He shrugged. "I could and I would have... but I won't." He shook his head giving me a smile he couldn't have learned from anyone but my brother - the quick, unamused, sarcastic smile that reached no one's eyes. "Scout's honor."

Placing some weight on the ball of my foot, I felt him choke. "Murderers have no honor."

"Was..." He cleared his throat. "Sent to protect you... from the real murderers." He wrapped both hands on my ankle now, trying to pry me off. "Not us."